Gregor and the Trial of Trees
by TheEscape7
Summary: Gregor has once again found himself in the Underland and now is fighting a very different type of war. Gregor will need to use his Overlander knowledge to help the Underland and defeat the ruthless metal army.
1. Chapter 1

The Underland Chronicles Book 6

Gregor and the Trial of Trees

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Gregor knew that today was not going to be a good day. First of all, he was piled in a small bus with a band worth of kids on the four and a half hour trip to New York City. Oh, and the fact that this was the first time that he was going back to the city where an underground civilization laid underneath that had the bad tendency to drag Gregor into its problems.

Gregor knew that truly he loved the Underland, where not only humans lived, but many kinds of giant creatures. However, he knew that he had to leave the Underland once and for all, which he had done, two years ago. But still his mind refused to let it go where the love of his life lived; Plus a bunch of very close friends. What did bother him about getting so close to the Underland was all of the terrible memories that had happened down there: his father being held kidnapped by evil rats, the murder of hundreds of giant mice, and not to mention the death of thousands of creatures in the aftermath of a war, which included his bat bonded to him, Ares.

"Gregor! You okay?" his friend, Drake, yelled at him.

"Yeah, just fine," Gregor said back very well knowing he was lying. Thankfully, Drake had brought him back into the present. Gregor realized that he was just worrying for nothing as nothing was going to happen. He wasn't even going to have to go near any of the entrances into the Underland. All he had to do was go to a jazz band performance at Carnegie Hall and see some of New York's historic sites. But, still when he learned of the trip he begged his parents so that he didn't have to go. Since it was the exact reason Gregor's family left New York City for his family's farm in Virginia he thought it would be pretty effective. He was wrong.

"No, Gregor. You joined this band and now you can't just leave at one of their biggest performances!" exclaimed his mother.

"Gregor, that was two years ago! Both entrances are sealed! And you won't even be going near them," said his dad. Since Gregor's family moved to Virginia, both his father's and his mother's health greatly improved. And now that Boots has started to forget the Underland all together, only he and his nine-year-old sister still think about it. Gregor knew he couldn't convince them, and they were right, so he had to go.

As they neared New York City, Mr. Hilliard, the band director, yelled out the schedule. "When we arrive, we will first go to the Empire State Building and then to Times Square, and then we will have free time for lunch at Central Park." As soon as Gregor heard "Central Park" he started to freak out. He felt like he was going to have a panic attack like Lizzie, but luckily Drake quickly took notice.

"Gregor, calm down! Its okay I'll stay with you!"

Luckily, Gregor had told him a fake story how he had been robbed in Central Park to explain one of the reasons why his family left New York and why he had a bunch of scars.

After the seeming-forever tour of the Empire State Building and walking through Time Square, it was finally time for Central Park. As Gregor got off the bus he had a great feeling of being where he had belonged a few years ago. He remembered taking Boots and Lizzie to Central Park to play. But, he quickly lost the feeling, as he remembered why he never went here after the crawlers kidnapped Boots when they were sledding. Drake wanted to explore the park, so Gregor followed. Drake ran through the huge park, looking at all the sights, and Gregor was always at his side. Since, both Gregor and Drake ran track, they decided to race. But, Gregor knew that Drake was much better at short distances.

"Can't keep up, can you?" yelled Drake.

"Ha, really funny!"

"Thanks! I kno… ouch!" Drake cried as he tripped. Gregor could not stop laughing at his friend. "Why is this even sticking up?" Drake said angrily. As Gregor looked down at where his friend was pointing, he realized where he was in the park, at the entrance to the Underland. But what was on the point sticking up was far worse; a straight line with a little slash at the top. A scythe! It was no doubt clawed into the rock by something of Underland variety, as it was a mark of secret. And a scythe meant death. Death to who sees it or a warning that death will follow, it just means people and other creatures will die. "Come on, Gregor! I'm okay, you see, fit as a fiddle!" as Drake did a little jog to show him, but he was far too perplexed with the sign.

"What had happened in the Underland?" thought Gregor, "and who is it suppose to warn?" But he knew whom it was suppose to warn: Him. Somehow, maybe Nerrisa saw it in a vision; they knew he would be there. And they knew if he saw the scythe, he would have to venture down into the Underland. And he did. But how was the real question. Drake would refuse to leave his sight, since he thought Gregor was terrified of being mugged. But Gregor saw his chance.

"Drake, you're bleeding"

"So? It doesn't even hurt!" Drake said with some confusion over Gregor's sudden caring.

"You don't want it to get infected, go wash it off!"

"Fine, mom," Drake yelled out with obvious displeasure.

"Well, it worked," Gregor thought. And the friend's yelling did get rid of everyone near by, so it was a perfect opportunity to escape into the tunnel.

Gregor quickly pried open the entrance into the Underland, which proved much easier than usually, since it had been recently opened. He made his way down through the modern brick tunnel, down in the natural stone part of the tunnel. Luckily, two years ago he had mastered echolocation. Which allowed him to see in the pitch-black tunnel. He had hoped somebody, like Ripred, would be waiting but no suck luck. When he got down to the entrance into the Waterway, he noticed bright lights glaring off the surface of the water. But when he got a better look, he noticed they were actually burning ships. But, not the ones used in funerals, but large ships, like the one he traveled on during his trip for the Bane. And there were lots of these ships, almost as if there had been a battle. But, that made no sense; the Regalians would have just used their bats. Then Gregor spotted it.

Making its way through the wreckage of ships was a large metal warship: almost like the 19th century warships that had no sails and used cannons. That wasn't right, since the Regalians didn't use metal ships and defiantly not cannons. And Gregor knew no one else in the Underland that did either.

"Drop, Overlander," purred a voice below him.

Gregor's first thought was Ares, but that wasn't right, as not only did Ares perish when fighting the Bane, but also as this voice was much higher. Gregor did eventually recognize the voice as Nike's though, so he did drop, even though something was off about it. It wasn't as happy and joyous as it usually is. Nike quickly caught him, but she had to dart out of the way of the warship's spotlight. The spotlight had been turned the off when Gregor first saw it, but it must had seen Nike move as it had flashed on. Gregor first reaction was that the warship had electricity but that wasn't right. The spotlight had a bright flame and a lens the concentrated the light. He had seen nothing else like in the Underland.

"What's going on?" whispered Gregor.

"Shh, quiet. Ripred will tell you at the camp,"

"The camp? Why not Regalia?

"Quiet! Or they will spot us!" Gregor rode in silence for the rest of the trip as Nike darted around the warship. She finally found a tunnel and flew into it. The tunnel system was very confusing with many turns, but somehow Nike knew the way. She flew for a few hours darting through the twisting tunnels until she finally made it to the camp.

The camp wasn't much. Very little people and creatures inhabited it. But Gregor recognized a few. Howard was tending to some wounded bats, and Ripred was busy with training some rats and humans. No one even noticed Nike fly in. She was obviously tired from the long trek.

"Nike, do you need anything?" asked Gregor.

"No, I will sleep. Go talk to Ripred." Something was defiantly not right. Why was this hidden camp needed? And why was there a metal warship patrolling the waters? Gregor quickly made his way to see the big rat. Just as he was getting near to Ripred, he could tell that the rat wasn't his normal self. He was very thin and it looked like he had fought a cactus, with all the new scars that he had. But by far his most notable scars were the crisscrossing scars on his face.

"About time! I though that Nerissa was wrong about you coming! Probably you decided to be your slow self!" Ripred said with very obvious anger.

"Sorry! Geez, I didn't that I had done something,"

"Fine! I don't have time for this, anyway. I have to train these soldiers," Ripred was in no mood to deal with Gregor and tried to return to teaching a soldier how to launch arrows.

"For what?" interrupted Gregor.

"Oh, I guess Nike didn't tell you. Regalia is under siege and has been for many weeks! Everyone is starving and last I heard the queen was in terrible shape,"

**Thanks for reading the first chapter in **_**Gregor and the Trial of Trees.**_** As this is my first fan fiction story I have written, please leave me reviews! And chapter 2: The Siege sh0uld be out shortly. Thanks!**

**TrentGro**


	2. Chapter 2

The Underland Chronicle Book 6

Gregor and the Trial of Trees

Chapter 2: The Tale of the Havenites

"Regalia is under siege! By who?" exclaimed Gregor.

"Overlander, did you not hear me? I have no time for this! I don't care that Nerissa's vision was that you would be the savoir of the Underland and of the prophecy. Our best hope of survival is training these soldiers, not telling a tale to a fourteen-year old!" Gregor took the screaming as a hint to leave, and that is exactly what he did. As much as he usually respected Ripred, he didn't right now. Gregor decided he needed to ask somebody else about the state of Regalia. Gregor hoped Howard would be available to tell the tale, but it became clear that he wasn't when Gregor became closer to the medical station, he could see that Howard was far to busy. So Gregor decided to see who else was at the camp that could tell the tale. He couldn't believe the Ripred would just tease him into asking about the tale, but get mad when he did ask about it. No one looked familiar, and everybody looked busy; the humans and bats were either training or healing. After searching for an hour, Gregor spotted a lone figure sitting in what looked like the sleeping quarters. When he got near, the man's face became clear.

"Vikus! It's great to see you! You look much better," Gregor said with sudden delight. And the old man did look much better, his face had returned to normal, but still Vikus looked extremely sad. "Of course he did," Gregor thought to himself, "the man had lost Solovet, Hamnet, the entire council, and probably this new war wasn't making him all that much better."

But Vikus did look happy to see Gregor. "Gregor, it is good to see you alive and well! But why are you down here? I thought you had left for good," questioned Vikus. Gregor knew that Vikus fully expected him to return, either from Nerissa's vision, or the next prophecy.

"I was on a trip to New York City, and I saw a scythe on the entrance to the Underland, so I had to come down to see if everyone was alright, but I can tell now that they are not. What has happened down here?"

"Please sit down, Gregor. This will be a long tale and it is not told to many, so please listen. As you know Bartholomew of Sandwich led the humans to the Underland, and then locked himself in his room to write prophecies. What many do not know is that Sandwich did not die in Regalia. When he was very old, he led a party of humans and bats to a 'Haven,' as told by a new prophecy that he didn't choose to write down as he had done with the others. He told of a land that was filled with many creatures and a land surrounded by trees that reached up the Overland. He called this place 'Haven' and that it was the humans' destiny to reach it. Except nobody wanted to follow him as Regalia had already had been set up as the capital. But Sandwich was undeterred by that, so he continued trying to convince some people to join him. Sandwich eventually convinced Maxentius and his loyal group. You see Maxentius was the next in line for royalty, but even he could tell that this wasn't going to happen. So he decided to leave Regalia behind and follow Sandwich. Led by Sandwich and his bat, Zeus, the group left. And they were never heard from again. So the Regalian rulers decided to hide that Sandwich had left and probably had died violently and instead say that he had died from age. So many believed that or that he had died trying to reach 'Haven', but three months ago, our scouts began reporting that an army had traveled from the Uncharted Lands. And to our confusion, it was a human army with black hair and lime-green eyes."

"Halflanders?"

"Yes, Gregor. Halflanders like Hazard."

"That makes no sense! Sandwich and his group should have looked like Underlanders by now. And how do you know they were from Haven?"

"We do not know for sure, but it is definitely the most logical choice, as they would be the only other human army in the Underland that Regalia did not control."

"But why are they Halflanders?"

"It is our idea that when Sandwich led his group to Haven, the journey proofed to be deadly. Much of the group was killed, and definitely not enough were left to start a colony such as Sandwich had hoped. So they tried to make do. Sandwich must have been adamant about this since it looks like he was overthrown."

"What? How could you possibly know that Sandwich was overthrown?"

"Ease, Gregor. I was getting to that. The man leading the army was the only Underlander in the army. And because of intelligence reports, we have found out that the man is Maxentius' great great grandson, Hadrian. What I didn't tell you before was that Maxentius was a cruel, evil man. He was supposed to be the ruler but when Sandwich picked the leader he bypassed Maxentius. Even though Maxentius was next in line, it was well known that he would never be able to rule. So, he decided to take power from Sandwich and rule Haven. This is why we believe that Sandwich lost power and Maxentius got it."

"Okay, I guess. But why is the army Halflander? And where is Haven? And why do they use metal warships? And why…

"Stop, Gregor! Those questions will soon be answered! Please let me tell that tale,"

"Vikus, he doesn't need to know all of this junk. Let me tell him the specifics on what is happening right now. He can figure out the rest of the story in Regalia if we live to get there," stated a voice hidden in the shadow of the cavern. Gregor quickly realized that Ripred has been standing there for quite a while.

"Yes, you are right. We do not have time for long, tales. Please go ahead, Ripred," Vikus said as he quickly left.

"Poor Vikus. The man is a diplomat for his entire life, and then the one time when diplomacy may be the only option, it is useless. I don't think Vikus got to this part so, I must. The Havenites don't speak English. They must have got an Overlander language from the ones they stole,"

"They stole Overlanders! Why?" question Gregor.

"Why do you think? When Maxentius took power, he needed to reinforce the population of Haven and quickly. He had an entrance to the Overland. What do you think somebody evil would do? Anyway, before you rudely interrupted me, the Havenites don't speak English. And as you probably realized Maxentius was evil, very evil. And he wanted his family to rule, not only Regalia, but also the entire Underland. So we believe he started a military campaign against everything not led by him. To do this he needed a very strong military, so he forced the Overlanders to make some new military technology with Underland materials. So they created heavy metal warships and weapons and armor like none other. So once they finished with the invasion of the lands surrounding Haven, they came after us. And they were well prepared. They hit the humans hard and silently. First, they silenced all scouts and started reporting back with fake reports. Of course, the humans had no idea they were in any danger, so they took the reports. Soon after the Regalians thought that the Halflander army has gone, the Fount was attacked. The Havenites quickly killed all communication that the Fount had with Regalia, so that when Regalia was attacked it still would be a surprise. The Fount was hit extraordinarily hard, as more water passages go to it. All the Havenites had to do was bring in their superior navy, and the Fount fell."

"The Fount was destroyed! How could that happen!" screamed Gregor

"The Fount was not destroyed, only enslaved. Luckily, or unluckily, the Havenites only want to destroy Regalia, probably to prove to the rest of the Underland that they could destroy the capital of the 'strongest' species." Hearing that, Gregor could tell that Ripred definitely did not like it. "Before the Havenites marched into the Fount, Howard got away. He flew straight to Regalia in hopes of warning them of the imminent attack. But as the Havenite navy took the Fount, its army moved to Regalia. By the time that Howard got to Regalia, all he could do was close the arena gates, which was actually quite helpful as it was the only open entrance to Regalia and it was the Havenites plan to use it. Now, without any entrances to the Regalia and since they don't have bats to fly the walls, the Havenite army has completely surrounded Regalia, with a huge mass of forces at the northern wall. This small camp barely made it out."

"Wow, that is a lot," thought Gregor, "And it sounds like Regalia needs some help."

"Ripred, what are we going to do! You must have some plan!" asked Gregor.

"Actually, no I don't. Its all up to you, Overlander,"

"What! Why?" Seeing that Ripred's mood from before had definitely changed, Gregor was very confused.

"Obviously you haven't seen the prophecy yet. We only could decipher parts of it from the Havenite's language, but it definitely says "_Only the risen Warrior's knowledge may lead the Underlanders to victory_." And as much as I don't believe in Sandwich's prophecies, it makes sense. The army uses Overlander technology that we don't have, but on the other hand, you do. Additionally, this line must be the motto for the army, but it's in their language, maybe you will know what it means, oh Great Risen Warrior. "_Lorsque le sang a séché, un seul sera gauche."_

**Thanks for reading chapter two! Please feel free to review this story as it may help me improve my style. Sorry for the massive amounts of story telling, but I do actually have more to tell. Please stay tuned for Chapter 3: The Siege (really it will be The Siege this time! Far more awesome, I promise).**

**Trentgro**

**PS: That last line is in French if you want to find out what it means, but I will cover it in the next chapter.**


End file.
